Handhold jacket for power-operated sheep shears and the like



April 6 1926.

, F. G. BRSTOW ,HANDHOLD JACKET FOR POWER OPERATED SHEEP sHEARs AND THE LIKE Filed August fg. 1924 Patentedk Apr. 6, 1926.y l

UNITED STATEs PATENT n OFFICE.

FRANCISSY G. ZBRIS'IOW, SYDNEY, .'AUSTRALIA, ASSIGNOR TO CHICAGO FLEXIBLE i v SHAFT COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

HANDHOLD JACKET Eon roWER-OPERATEDKSHEEP sHEAas aim THELIKE.

Application flied August 9,

To all whom t may cofrwwfri:l 'y

Be it known that I, FRANorss G. BRISTOW,

a resident of Sydney, `Australia, have'mvented certain new and useful Improvements inHandholdJackets for Power-Operated Sheep Shears' and. the like, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accon'ipanying drawings, forming apart thereof. a j y The purpose ofV this invention is,v tov pro-- vide animproved kjacket or sheath for the hand-hold of a power-operated sheep shearing tool Whichshall obviate the diiiic-ulties f experienced With and defects in the use of the handle' coverings Which have heretofore been employed. It consists in the elements and features of*constructionfshownV and described, as indicated in the claims.

In the drawings: y* Figure 1 1s a perspective View of a known form of power-operated sheep shears equipped with the hand-hold jacket or sheath which characterizes thepresent invention.

Figure 2 is an inverted plan View of the same. "ff

Figure '3 yis a plan view `of' thev sheath unlaced and removed fromthe tool.

Figure 4 isa section at the line, on'V Figure 1. ,e ,y Figure 5 is a section at the line, 5 5, on Figure 2. f f

It-has long beencustomary to provide for the 'hand-hold or hand-gripped portion of val power-operated sheep shears a jacket orA covering which shall afford a more comfortable and secure graspfor theghand of the operator than that Which'is afforded by the smooth and usually polished metal surface of the body or casing of the tool.v These hereto-fore employed jacketsor covershave been made of a single layer of canvas or leather and have not been found satisfactory.'

rlfhe leather absorbs ther lubricating oilV which is liable to escape more'gor less from the interior of the tool and soon becomes stretched out of sh-ape so that it is liable to slip on the tool body, and alsoY becoming greasy upon the outer surface, loosens the grip of the operator, and through these tendencies to slip in the operators hand and on the tool body, greatly increases the muscular effort necessary to obtain proper grasp for operating the tool, and thereby reduces "sheath for the hand-hold, consisting of an 1924. Serrial No. 731,232.

the rate at which the operator can manipu-` late the tool in shearing. lVhen the jacket is made of canvas or like textile fabric,-this fabric becomes clogged and slippery both in the hand ofthe operator and on the body vof the tool, even more rapidly and embarrassingly thanl in the case of leather. -Felt and woolen textile fabric offer some advantage over leather and canvas because the ivoolen felt and textile fabric have some capacity for absorbing the oil and perspiration and preventing the surface from `becoming greasy and slippery after so short a use as in the case of leather rand canvas, but felt and- Woolen textile fabric both lack the tenacity 7 or resist-ance to stretching which is necessary to keep the jacket fitted snugly on the body ofthe tool, as it must be toperform the .function for Whiehit is provided, and when the jacket is made of such material, in order to be at all effective, it'must be positively secured to vthe bodyy of the ytool at-many points, no reliance being placed uponl the frictional holdj for which it must be-and continuetightly, stretched. about the met-al 3 body ofthe tool.; `and when such multiplicity of securements ispro-vided, the j acketis neces-v sarily destroyedevery time it is removed for openingthe tool for any attention which .may be requiredtothe interior mechanism;

Y In the present invention the .defectsl and disadvantages of'all'tliese forms of jacket Which have heretofore been employed, are

substantially obviated by making a jacket or 'inner or lining 'layer-or ply of leather, and an kouter or ,co-ver layer of. wcolen felt, the two layers being secured together over their entire contacting surfaces by an interposed layer of material which' ymay be termed glue or i, cement', beingr strongly adhesive, an-fl Water and oil proof,fso that neitherv the oil from the tool Wliielrmay.reach thelleath-er,

`nor the perspiration ffrom the hand which reaches the felt, can penetrate thisr inter-*100 vening layer. The jacket formed of these three layers is constructed flat, as vseen in Figure 3, of such contour and Adimensions that when vfolded about the handheld portion ofthe tool the opposite edges may meet and be laced together in a substantially straight linein a plane axial lWith respect to the hand-hold, notwithstanding the variation in diameter of the hand-hold at different parts of the length thereof, the varia- H0 Cil tion in circumference of the hand-hold at the different parts being provided for by corresponding variation in the width of the flatforin sheath, as seen in Figure The drawings show the tool body of the customary form, comprising the head, ik, and handhold portion, A1, the latter having an enlargement at A2, which accommodates the driving connection from the power shaft, B, to the cutter operating lever, C. The enlargement or swell at A2, as is well understood, in addition to the function of accommodatinO' the operatingl connection as mentioned, has the further function of affording comfortable and secure grasp to the hand of the operator, tending to prevent the hand from slipping longitudinally; and in grasping the tool at this swell for this advantage, the thumb and first finger of the operator will advantageously for guiding the tool be pressed upon the opposite diverging sides of the head, A; and the jacket is therefore former so as to have lugs or extensions covering` these diverging sides of the head.

In detail, the jacket or sheath, indicated at large by the reference letter, D, comprises as above described, an inner or lining layer of leather, 10, and an outer cover layer of woolen felt, 1I, in an intervening oil-andwater-proof adhesive layer, l2, which secures the felt and leather layers permanently together. This adhesive layer is desirably made of a strong quality of glue which is flexible when fully dry and set, so that it does not prevent the folding of the sheath about the hand-hold nor crack in such folding. rIhe dimensions of t-he jacket, D, may be understood from Figure 3 as varying in width at different parts of its length, corresponding to the variations in circumference of the hand-holdl of the tool at corresponding points in the length of the latter, which causes the jacket in plan view to be tapered widening from the rear end for about three-fifths of its entirelength, and then tapered narrowing toward the forward end. The forward end is recessed as seen at D1, forming two forwardly projecting lugs, D2, D2, which by reason ofthe notch or recess between them are adapted to be spread apart when the jacket is folded upon the tool so as to fit upon and cover the opposite sides of the head, A, where the same is grasped` by the thumb and first linger of the operator reason of the frictional hold of the leather on the metal of the tool body when the j acket. is tightly laced thereabout as described, and the adaptation of the felt to afford a secure and comfortable hold for the grasp of the operator, and the imperviousness of the adhesive layer, 12, to both the perspiration and the oil, a jacket of this construction substantially obviates all the defects and disadvantages above mentioned as pertaining to the single layer of leather, canvas or woolen felt or textile fabrics heretofore employed for like purpose.

To insure against the jacket at any time starting to slip from the position at which it is originally located on the casing of the tool, there is desirably provided a means of positive engagement of the jacket at one point with the casing, as by a screw, F, for which a hole is bored and tapped in the casing and a hole positioned for registering there-with is made in the jacket as seen at (Z.

I claim l. A hand-hold sheath for a sheep shears and the like, consisting of a jacket made of flat material iiexible for being folded closely about a handle portion of the tool and provided with means for lacing its edges together for securing it on the tool handle, the same consisting of an inner layer of leather for Contact with the tool handle, an outer covering layer of wool felt for contact with the hand of the operator, and means for securing the two layers together over Substantially their entire area.

2. In the construction defined in claim l, the means for securing the two layers together being a third layer intervening between the leather-'and the wool felt consisting of adhesive water-and-oil-proof material for protecting the leather layer from moisture and oil enteringv through the wool felt layer.

In testimony whereof,`I have hereunto set my hand at Chicago, Illinois, this 5th day of August, 1924.

FRANCISS G. BRISTOIV. 

